Monday, August 30, 2010

I am wrting below a comment I received to my blog from Anonymous, on Thursday, August 26, 2010, "Dissent is simmering under the brim in Singapore".

These are words of wisdom which we should all keep in mind. They succinctly describe present day Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew's rule.

"A society that robs an individual of the product of his effort, or enslaves him, or attempts to limit the freedom of his mind, or compels him to act against his own rational judgment-a society that sets up a conflict between its edicts and the requirements of man's nature-is not, strictly speaking, a society, but a mob held together by institutionalized gang-rule. Such a society destroys all the values of human coexistence, has no possible justification and represents not a source of benefits, but the deadliest threat to man's survival. Life on a desert island is safer than and incomparably preferable to existence in Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany, (or present day North Korea).

If men are to live together in a peaceful, productive, rational society and deal with one another to mutual benefit, they must accept the basic social principle without which no moral or civilized society is possible: the principle of individual rights"

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

If you were to ask Singapore's notorious Changi Prison whether the Swiss graffiti artist, Oliver Fricker who is there serving sentience has received the beatings (canings), like cowards they are not going to say. You see, just like North Korea, everything is secret in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore island. I reckon, as Fricker is already there for the last 2 moths or so, and his appeal has failed, with his sentence increased, there is a possibility he has already been tortured.

I recall when I was in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore prison in 2008, my Communist Chinese cell mate who was to receive the beatings because he overstayed his visa, was to have received it after about a month in jail. Going by this, it would appear that Fricker has either already been beaten or is about to be beaten.

Singapore, keeping mum about these beatings, hope that the public would forget about what he is going through. Out of sight and out of mind, is what Singapore wants. We should not let them get away with it.

Please give a thought to Oliver Fricker. Think of the excruciating pain he will suffer at the hands of this so called first world city state. He would be strapped naked to a wooden frame. A trained muscular athletic prison officer would use maximum force to beat his bare buttocks with a cane three times. Each time, the skin will tear and blood will flow. Even pieces of flesh would be dislodged. Fricker would scream with pain, but he is strapped to the trestle. At each beating, unable to bear the pain, he may move his buttocks but the prison officer will readjust him for the next bloody stroke. After the beatings, he would be helped to his cell, unable to walk. He would be unable to go to the bathroom. His buttocks will swell to 3 times the size and completely turn blue and black. Eventually it will heal but the scars will remain.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

I get the refreshing feeling now that Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and company, the bully boys who run the island, have finally got themselves firmly stuck in the bog. And it appears they don't know what to do.

Although the old Chinese adage of killing a chicken to frighten the monkeys, another way of saying "Punish and shame a few to silence the majority", is very much in vogue in Singapore as it has always been, lately, it simply does not seem to work.

You recall the late JB Jeyaretnam. He was repeatedly punished for his political opposition which finally killed him. Yet he never gave up and Lee's punishments, rather than silencing him, made him even more vociferous. Then of course there is Dr. Chee Soon Juan. He goes to prison almost every month a week at a time for exercising his civil rights. Lee's idea was to punish him, so he will stop. It was also to intimidate others so they will not do likewise.

Lee's plan for Dr. Chee Soon Juan appears to be a complete flop. Dr. Chee does not mind going to jail a week at a time, and neither has it frightened anyone else.

And then there was me, in 2008. I criticized Singaporean Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean for prostituting her office to please Lee Kuan Yew in a defamation trial. I was sent to jail for 3 months with great fanfare and the local state controlled press carrying headlines of it for several days. That has not stopped me from criticizing her or anyone else in Singapore. In fact my criticism has become even more robust.

The ground in Singapore instead of becoming cowed and intimidated, has become just the reverse. Today almost daily you have someone taking on the Lee Kuan Yew regime openly and fearlessly. Last week a young man wrote in his blog that Vivian Balakrishnan should be "burnt". He was arrested for that. Yesterday another young man had criticized the manner of Shafie Goh's arrest, a photographer who had taken pictures of the flooding last month. He has been taken in for questioning. But it is not stopping them. In fact the young man who wanted Balakrishnan to be "burnt" has challenged Lee Kuan Yew to "take him on"!

These protest are now becoming more regular and Singaporens are resisting the repression they are living under. The efficacy of the old Chinese saying about killing chickens and frightening monkeys is being disproved. Singaporeans are turning out to be neither chickens nor monkeys. If there are any monkeys or chickens, they are Lee Kuan Yew, his son and his sidekicks, all of them.

Here I am going to advise Lee Kuan Yew. Sending anyone to jail for a week like you do Dr. Chee Soon Juan does not interest anyone, least of all Dr. Chee Soon Juan. And when you sent me to jail for 3 months in 2008, it didn't interest me or for that matter anyone else.

If you really want Singaporeans to be afraid of you in the year 2010, you have to do what Hitler or Stalin did. Shoot them or send them to jail for 20 years, not one week. I dare say it would make a difference on the ground if you sent Dr. Chee Soon Juan to jail for 20 years. That would not only silence him, it would also silence everyone else. Better still shoot him.

But you and I know, at this day and age, you can do none of that. All you can do is to send him to jail for a week at a time, because if you did anything more to him, the international community will "burn" you and your friends to borrow the young man's phrase.

So, it appears now, you are finally stuck in the bog, up to your neck. You can neither move or do anything. You are helpless. And I ask Singaporean young men as the one who was arrested, not to fear, and continue standing up to the bully.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Aug 29, 2010 has the story "Arbitration to grow further. Field set to expand as more international parties seek to resolve disputes in Singapore".

K Shanmugam, Lee Kuan Yew's hand picked Law Minister says according to this report, "More parties to international disputes have sought arbitration here and the field has been lucrative for Singapore".

Once again, Shanmugam has not been telling the whole truth. It is true that international arbitration is growing in Singapore, but the word "international" refers only to one particular country, Communist China.

With almost every Western company using China for cheap manufacturing, the Chinese always without exception demand in their contracts disputes be settled through arbitration in Singapore. For the unwary Western company, not knowing what dirty business goes on in Singapore, a one party dictatorship absent the rule of law, Singapore is still better than having the dispute heard in China.

So when the article talks of international clients, there is only one, Communist China. No other country worth it's salt would ever want to have anything to do with Singapore especially after the 72 page scathing attack on it's legal system by the International Bar Association, which said bluntly that Singapore has no rule of law and no independent judges.

The report says "disputes involved shipping and maritime, corporate and insurance, and construction and engineering matters." What they forgot to add are the words "from the Peoples Republic of China."

The report says that cases tripled to 160 last year. I am surprised that it is so low. With the thousands of contracts that American and Western countries sign with the Chinese each year, the disputes heard in Singapore should be a hundred times more.

The reason why so few cases were heard is simply because it has got such a bad name internationally as a lawless one party rule despotic state, that slowly but surely the true colors of Singapore is slowly beginning to sink in. Western countries today I reckon are refusing to accept Singapore as an arbitration center when suggested by the Chinese and instead are demanding that London or other respectable legal jurisdictions selected.

Surely Lee Kuan Yew and his minions must have known that there is a price to pay when you deliberately abuse the law repeatedly against JB Jeyatrenam to destroy him; the same for Dr. Chee Soon Juan, and for Tang Liang Hong. Western companies are not fools because sooner or later, they are going to know the truth about Singapore.

Western companies should avoid using Singapore arbitration because the Chinese always win. In arbitration as in any other field in Singapore, everything has the unseen hand of government. I have no doubt behind the scenes arbitrators are quietly advised to find in favor of Chinese over others. Since the majority of Chinese companies are either government owned or have links with their government, pleasing them means more commercial deals and business.

I have not had the benefit of reading any Singapore arbitration awards and neither do I know if any are available, but this much I can guess, knowing Singapore. Almost every Western country which had arbitration in Singapore using Singapore arbitrators would have gone home, not only disappointed but shocked. They have all lost.

If you can expect any lawyer to violate the law by finding guilty a lawyer merely for criticizing a judge (I am referring to my impending but predictably certain disbarment in Singapore), how on earth can he be expected to uphold the law fairly and impartially in any other case, tell me that?

I am sure he is going to find me guilty, whereas he knows, just as anyone else, that anywhere else I would not. Question is, if a man behaves like that when dealing with a Singaporean dissident, willingly abusing the law to please the government, how can you expect him to be impartial when dealing with a case where a Communist Chinese company is a party against, say, an Australian company? He would almost certainly have to side with the Chinese because, as in my case, it would please his government, and by extension ensure his successful future.

If western companies are reading this, please refuse arbitration in Singapore when dealing with Chinese companies. You don't stand a chance in Singapore. Singapore arbitrators are not dispensing justice, they are dispensing favors to the Chinese and the Singaporeans.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Not wanting to be too brazen, may I say that I am gratified with what is happening in Singapore now. It is quite clear now that my work in political dissent there has not been in vain. Just look at it now. Not too long ago in 2008, I was arrested in Singapore for criticizing Singapore Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean. After a great deal of publicity both locally and worldwide, I was sent to prison for 3 months.

As an ongoing occurrence, Dr. Chee Soon Juan and his brave supporters have been going to jail on a regular basis for civil disobedience.

More recently Alan Shadrake the British author was arrested for his criticism of the Singapore judiciary in his book. He plans to fight at his trial tomorrow. Singaporeans and the world have rallied to his cause.

Only yesterday a blogger had been arrested for writing that Vivian Balakrishnan, the Singapore Minister now known with scorn as "Comical Vivian" not unlike Saddam Hussein's "Comical Ali", should be "burned" together with his PAP.

Today another blogger was arrested for writing criticism of the shameful manner in which Shafie Goh was handcuffed and mistreated by police merely for taking pictures of Singapore's nationwide flooding.

Today there is a dejected looking picture of Vivian Balakrishnan in Singapore's state controlled press. Such a picture, looking sad and forlorn, always has a message in authoratarian regimes like Singapore. It can only mean "Comical Vivian" is on his way out. He gives a bad name for his blotching up the YOG games to a ever perfect image of Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore.

In Hitler's or Lee Kuan Yew's island, there is no tolerance for failure. In the one case, the firing squad. In the other dismissal and oblivion.

Goodbye Vivian. Good to have known you. Time you went to work in some government linked company trading with the Burmese military.

Having been an element responsible for instigating Singaporeans into unrest by this blog and my run ins with Lee Kuan Yew, I now sit back, continue writing and watch the fun.

The horse of public dissent has bolted from the barn. Now there is no stopping. The people are up in arms. Lee Kuan Yew would have to do one of 2 things, he has no choice. Either he has to keep arresting more and more Singaporeans for protesting, or he has to give in to freedom. And either way he loses.

This time, if indeed these protesters are the beginning of a tidal wave of islandwide dissent which I hope is the case, Lee Kuan Yew and his son better start worrying.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Alan Shadrake will go on trial in Singapore's Alice in Wonderland Courts charged with the "uniquely Singaporean" charge of "scandalizing" the judiciary there. And from what is being said, he is not even allowed to justify his actions, because, believe it or not, under Singaporean justice truth is not a defense.

Sorry to be going back to Alice in Wonderland but do you recall the trial of the rabbit who stole the tart? The Queen judge (Lee Kuan Yew's Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean of the Dr. Chee Soon Juan case fame comes to mind) found the need to hear the evidence before sentencing totally unnecessary and tiresome. It would have been much better, she said, to pass the sentence first, then hear the evidence. It would have, she said, saved much of her time.

Alan Shadrake's Singaporean trial on the 30th of August 2010, isn't much different since, how is he to defend himself if he is not even allowed to say that what he said was true?

But coming to "scandalizing" the judiciary, there isn't much under American law to help me. Such an offense does not exist! Shadrake should look up to some archaic medieval English law on what this means. I am not sure but I don't think this action even exists today in modern day Britain.

But the meaning of "scandalize" should help a little. Websters English dictionary meaning of this word is 1) to speak falsely or maliciously of 2) to bring into reproach and 3) to offend the moral sense of.

In all 3 meanings of the word, it implies that to successfully scandalize anyone, that object must have some merit in the first place, since how else can you possibly scandalize someone who has no merit whatsoever. If a man is a bum, it would be impossible in effect to scandalize him, since he has done it to himself by being a bum.

This is one of the defenses Shadrake should rely on. And to do this he would have to show that this government in Singapore has lost it's credibility entirely, by a long history of misusing the law to silence dissent. And therefore since they themselves had themselves scandalized, Shadrake cannot be guilty of anything now since any further scandalizing of the Singapore government is impossible since they had already done it to themselves since 1959!

And in order to do it, Shadrake would have to testify with proof that this government has lost all respect for using the law as a political tool to silence dissent, obviously an entirely improper use of the law. For this Shadrake will have to refer to the Constitution Article 14 which guarantees fundamental human rights, the section which prohibits laws that violate the Constitution and stress that all these laws passed by the government to silence dissent are void under law and illegal.

He should speak on the series of injustices against JB Jeyaretnam, Dr. Chee soon Juan and myself as an abuse of due process and illegal. The case where I was convicted of contempt of court in 2008, Attorney General of Singapore vs Gopalan Nair is also part of the bundle of authorities the Attorney General is relying on. Shadrake should argue that my conviction, just like those of all the others were wrong and in violation of the Constitution.

I am sure the judge is going to stop Shadrake from raising any of this, because in Singapore just as any politically motivated case like this, to Lee Kuan Yew, it is an open and shut case.

Shadrake should not allow it to be an open and shut case as they want. Shadrake should bring in the evidence fully in his defense. The world's newspapermen would be in court watching. Shadrake should not disappoint them. He should insist in having his day in court, literally. He should say his piece, with or without the judge's consent. The world has a right to be told. My advise to Shadrake, don't be intimidated by this Lee Kuan Yew lackey of a judge. Insist on saying what you have to say, regardless of however long it takes. This judge might threaten you with further contempt if you don't shut up, but please don't give in. State your piece, make you statement to the fullest.

Cross examine your accusers to the fullest. Don't leave a stone unturned. Ask them whether they know that the law is discriminately applied with one for the rich and another for the poor. And go through the entire litany of your questions.

Remember you owe it to all of us, to take these puny dictators to bits. It is not just the Singapore courtroom now. The entire world is watching you.

This is your day. You have nothing to lose. It is true that you say you have nothing to fear from them, since they cannot do anything to you even if they want. Their game is up and you have got them this time once again with their pants down. Their biggest mistake was to go after you. Now since you have got them firmly under your grip, don't let go. Please don't let go.

Give it to them Shadrake. Take no prisoners. No prisoners. Give it to them. I demand justice.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

The similarities between Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore government with the Communist Chinese republic are striking, except China is huge and Singapore a tiny speck. But the point being missed is, Communist Chinese style authoritarianism may have worked in Singapore, but I don't think much longer.

Just like the Communist Party of China, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew too believes his PAP will rule forever; as he constantly harps on the need to renew his party leadership in government.

Even though Singapore is supposed to be a parliamentary democracy, he doesn't consider the happening ever of a change of government. For him it is PAP forever, just as the Chinese Communist Party in China.

But the 2 countries are completely different. It is like comparing apples to oranges. China has never claimed to be a democracy, and the Chinese too have not even dreamed of any other government there except the Communist Party. For them, it is understood that they will work hard, get recognized by the Communist Party leadership and advance in their careers.

Singapore is very different. Even though Lee's PAP has been in power since 1959, in theory at least Singapore is supposed to be a democracy. At the back of their heads Singaporeans may aspire not only for material wealth but also for their freedoms. So it is not so easy for Lee Kuan Yew to go out and attract the best to join him in government. Those who can afford to live independent lives, either because of their job skills or because of the personal wealth may refuse to join a government which they see as repressive and authoritarian. They choose either to leave the island or to refuse co-operation with the regime.

Today Singapore's seemingly insurmountable problems seems to be exactly because Lee's using the Chinese model simply does not work. Singapore's one major headache is the brain drain, which is easy for Singaporeans with their English language but impossible for the Communist Chinese without English and without exit visas.

Second, the Internet is one major pain in the neck for Singapore. This blog Singapore Dissident would not exist without the Internet. China simply blocks any offending Internet material entering China. But Singapore even though they would love to do it, simply cannot, which is why blogs like mine are hurting the Lee Kuan Yew's supremacy very badly. The only thing he could do is to have me killed, but until then he has to contend with this blog, and that hurts.

With Singapore's tiny population, when you alienate the educated and skilled, you have a major problem; insufficient work force talent. In China on the other hand, you have a burgeoning supply of educated and skilled people.

Recently they arrested Shadrake for writing a book they did not like and he will be tried next week. But any punishment meted out to him would in fact cause another backlash from those who already are finding living under such authoritarianism uncomfortable. With a tiny population getting even tinier with brain drain, it is going to be very hard for Lee Kuan Yew.

On the other hand, had Shadrake written a book critical of the Chinese in China, he would have got no sympathy from the government nor the people. Their mentality simply does not permit criticizing authority.

Lee Kuan Yew is facing today the same problem every other dictatorship has faced and will face, which is the inability to make necessary changes to suit the times. What he has today is a system that tells the people to support him because he can provide jobs and a living. Unfortunately today, that is not all what Singaporeans want. But not realizing it, he destroys not only Singapore but his own survival, pun intended being 88 years old.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Why is it, that after a few days of headlines splashed across the state controlled press and blaring from the TV and radio stations, all these campaigns are never hear of again, because they have completely failed.

Remember, K Shanmugam the recently handpicked Lee Kuan Yew Minister of Law proclaiming that he will increase the lawyer numbers in Singapore from the pathetic 3,000, a totally inadequate number for any city of 4.8 million. To that end he introduced various measures such as lowering the training periods of foreign lawyers to encourage them to practice there. What happened? Has anyone come? I guess not. And what is worse, it has shrunk even further to perhaps less than 3,000!

And by the way, after the news of my impending disbarment in Singapore which I know will be well publicised, I can guarantee you there will be even more resignations from the Singapore legal profession. The reputation of Singapore law as an organ of the Singapore government to stifle dissent is so well known both locally and internationally; no self respecting lawyer anywhere wants anything to do with them.

The falling birth rates is another total failure for this government. They have tried everything. Only 2 days ago the Singapore Social Development Unit, a sort of government matchmaking agency had urged young people to marry someone even if they were not to their liking or some other stupidity to that effect. You have correctly guessed it. No one is marrying. Once again a total failure.

Then there was the Minister Lui Tuck Yew, Goh Chock Tong and others who had not only pleaded to overseas Singaporeans in London Paris and Rome to return to Singapore, they even had a fair at London's Camden Park and gave out free food to passers-by in the hope that some passing Singaporeans might eat it, and out of gratitude return to Singapore. Alas no one did. And yet again a utter waste of taxpayer money. Once gone, Singaporeans refuse to return. And what is more they cleanse their minds of it, as if Singapore was a curse. Go ahead as ask any former Singaporean in London San Francisco or Toronto and see what you get.

As we speak, the local Singapore population is being completely replaced, as if like a blood transfusion. Singaporeans are either dying of old age or emigrating while millions of foreigners are being made instant citizens, who have by and large no idea of what to expect.

I can tell you the prognosis does not seem very bright. As usual these million dollar ministers do not appear to be able to understand the consequences of their actions. An unhappy people will not have children, they would not want to live in the island and with old age and emigration, the species of Singaporeans as we understand them would simply die off.

Foreigners who come to settle are by and large mediocre. They have to be. First, if they knew what they were getting into, they would never had come to an island that does not have a free press, an independent judiciary or democracy. So what you get is obviously ignorance. But if somewhere down the line, they become aware and decide instead to go back to their own countries, the result would a million or so unhappy recent immigrants who bad mouth Singapore and provide bad publicity in their countries of origin. If the reputation of Singapore internationally is already bad, it will get even worse.

Top down decision making as was the case in Stalin's Russia or present day Singapore usually fails and worse still has deleterious consequences much worse than you imagine.

Frankly with these million dollar men in Singapore who have become too big for their shoes, I don't really see much hope at all.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Disciplinary proceedings against lawyers in Singapore as well as in most other countries are confidential. The public are usually not told of the proceedings until the lawyer is either disciplined or vindicated. The rule makes sense to ensure the privacy of the parties including the complainant.

Had I been physically within Singapore, I could not have said anything about these proceedings. Lee Kuan Yew's island is a police state and they can do anything they want against his targets.

Here the complainant being the Singapore Law Society itself, they should have nothing to hide and the rule of confidentiality therefore fails.

By my reporting the details of these proceedings, Lee Kuan Yew and his bully boys are clearly being embarrassed. It would have been one thing, had I in fact embezzled a million dollars of client funds and run away. But here they have a huge problem. My actions, rather than criminal in nature, were political intended to expose the dishonesty of their judges and the corruption of their entire legal system. It is one thing to disbar a dishonest lawyer, but quite another against one who is exposing a corrupt regime.

Naturally they would have preferred that all this is is kept under wraps now, as it should be, and when the time comes for my disbarment, write a few words in the state controlled press there and Gopalan Nair is history thereafter.

No, I am not going to let them get away so easily. I intend to use this opportunity in the pages of Singapore Dissident to expose them, every single bit of misuse of the law I can find.

And that is where their problem lies. As sure as the sun rises, disbar me they must no matter what. Otherwise Lee Kuan Yew will lose face and his mandate to rule from Heaven, like a good Confucian, as both Father and Son have so many times reminded us.

But the problem for them is, their case is weak. Very weak. They are in fact trying to disbar a lawyer from practicing law permanently, which is the ultimate punishment reserved only for the most serious of cases; but in this case, for writing a blog post in which he criticised a judge using proper English language for a serious misuse of her authority, the same for another judge, yelling at police officers (if this is in fact is true), telling a judge in open court that the proceedings are politically motivated and finally reneging on a promise to a judge in Singapore when he had every right to.

These are not charges that will result in any lawyer being punished anywhere in the world, and especially so when these actions refer to Singapore island, a place which has lost all credibility for it's total absence of the rule of law.

Huge bundles of documents, gigantic bundles of 40 lbs or so, have been sent to me recently from the Singaporean Law Society about this case, which I have not had time to look through. Their intent is clearly to intimidate a victim with the sheer weight of paper, it appears. It is simply a wastage of paper upon paper which tells us nothing more than what we already know.

When I have some time to throw, I will read that rubbish and report. With a cursory look at it, I found statements from All the Kings Men, or rather all of Lee Kuan Yew's lackeys, players in this game, such as Assistant Superintendent Abdul Razak Zakaria who had me arrested, and other such minions of the big man.

Singapore is spending a lot of time and effort on this matter, with several agencies other than the Singapore Law Society working hard on it, which reminds me of my importance I suppose, and not least a total waste of the Singapore taxpayers hard earned money, or what is left of it.

Soon the Singapore state controlled media will report my disbarment which I hope they do prominently, in headlines splashed across all the state controlled newspapers and all radio and television channels. This will once again give me the publicity that I need, put me once again in the spotlight in Singapore and keep the cause I am fighting for alive and burning.

After that, I will keep provoking them and their corrupt legal system in some other way, hopefully they take some other action, for Gopalan Nair to continue as the thorn on their side that simply refuses to go away.

I can only thank them for all their actions so far, my arrest in 2008 and imprisonment, my hoax on Lee Kuan Yew's heart attack this year that created a island wide panic and my forthcoming disbarment.

Today, thanks to them, Gopalan Nair is now a household name throughout Singapore island, which they alone made possible. Thank you.

As as for you my reader, thank you very much. Rest assured, Gopalan Nair is going to be around for a very long time.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

My disciplinary proceedings in Singapore which will have me disbarred there will be held from 20 to 24 September 2010 at 10am at Court 2A, High Court, Singapore.

I understand these hearings are in camera, meaning there won't be any spectators.

Subsequent to the finding of guilty in the disciplinary proceedings, which we all know, the matter will be heard before Judges in open court who would of course have me disbarred in Singapore island.

Since my return to California from my Singaporean adventure in 2008, I have committed various additional crimes (by Singapore's reckoning) such as repeating the remarks I made about Singapore Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean and others in this blog.

I have also, under Singapore law committed contempt of court by withdrawing the apology I gave to Singapore Judge Leslie Chew not to criticize the Singapore government or their courts anymore.

Of course, I stand by my actions and believe none of them is a crime or improper conduct under normally accepted laws of countries around the world.

Since my returning to Singapore to defend these charges in court would mean exposing myself to re-arrest and imprisonment again, I have repeatedly asked for a guarantee from the Singapore authorities, the Disciplinary Tribunal, the Singapore Attorney General and Singapore Immigration, that I will be given safe passage in and out of Singapore and not arrested.

They have all chosen not to respond to my request.

In the light of this, since my re-arrest is almost a certainty if I ever return to Singapore, I would not be able to return to Singapore to defend myself in court. I believe, knowing Singapore, this is exactly what they want, as they obviously fear the consequences of my testifying in court there; even more publicity and embarrassment for them.

The charges against me, as you know are the following:

1. In May 29, 2008 blog post in this blog, titled "Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court" I had said "The following transpired during the last 3 days in court. The judge Belinda Ang was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings, by being nothing more than an employee of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders." The blog post described in detail the repeated bias of this Judge in favor of Lee Kuan Yew and Son, in effect denying Dr. Chee Soon Juan and Chee Siok chin any meaningful opportunity to defend themselves.

The dictionary meaning of the words "prostituting oneself" is to misuse one's authority or office for a dishonest purpose such as what Judge Belinda Ang clearly did for all to see.

In September of 2008 I was charged and convicted by Judge Kan Ting Chiu for insulting a judge because of these words "prostituting herself". I vigorously defended myself at trial but despite every dictionary meaning that tells this, I was sent to jail for 3 months.

I have no hesitation and will say again that Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean did "prostitute herself" by behaving in the despicable corrupt way she did in court from May 26, 2008 to May 28, 2008.

The Singapore Disciplinary Proceedings are attempting to have me disbarred for having said these words in my blog.

2. In the second charge, since my return to the United States, I used words to the same effect, against Singapore Judge Judith Prakash for sending 3 Singapore men to jail merely for wearing T shirts emblazoned with the picture of a Kangaroo in judicial clothes. Their intention of course was to proclaim that Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean was a Kangaroo Judge and the Lee Kuan Yew vs Dr. Chee Soon Juan was kangaroo court proceedings. Please be reminded that the 3 were not even caught within her courtroom.

Please refer to my blog post of Thursday, February 26, 2009 "Singapore's High Court Judge Judith Prakash shamelessly abuses the law in the kangaroo T shirt trial". In this blog post in describing her bias I used the words "This Singapore judge Judith Prakash has completely abused the law obviously to terrorize Singaporeans into not criticizing the Singapore judiciary, to please Lee Kuan Yew, the Singapore strongman who cannot stand any criticism, either of his corrupt courts or his dictatorial government" among others.

These words aptly describe the shameful conduct of this judge and I stand by my actions as correct.

3. Then there is a charge that I had misbehaved by yelling at police officers and behaving in a disorderly manner in Singapore on July 4, 2008. I deny the charge as a total fabrication. I went to trial which lasted many days. I was convicted and fined $3,000.00.

4. Then there is a charge that I committed contempt of court during my trial in the above case that I made such statements to the judge such as "I have no respect for this court", "these are politically motivated charges" etc. These accusations were correct and I stand by them.

5. Then there is the charge that I committed contempt of court by withdrawing my apology to Judge Leslie Chew in Singapore and retracting my promise that I will not criticise Singapore and their judges. After I returned to the US, I did exactly that.

I have no doubt as you would as well, that I will be disbarred in Singapore. Singapore laws have lost all credibility in the free world and are seen as a political tool to silence dissent in the island. But there is nothing they can do if you are outside their island as I am.

My purpose of continuing to provoke the Singapore authorities to take these actions which I then expose as repression, is deliberate on my part. By my ongoing writing of their actions in this blog, their repression exposed and they are being hurt; highly damaging to their claim of rule of law and democracy.

So far they are unable to stop this blog being read in Singapore because it is Internet based in USA. If they wished to do so, they would have to do as China did by demanding the outside agencies to block it in Singapore. To do this would mean of course admitting Singapore to be a closed society which for practical purposes they cannot do. So Singapore Dissident continues while the Singapore dictatorship boil with rage.

The reader is aware that I am also a Barrister at Law admitted to practice in England and Wales and in California. Any act that is improper in any part of the world, can render me subject to disciplinary proceedings in England and in California.

Since my disbarment is a forgone conclusion in Singapore, I would challenge them to file the necessary complaints to the English Bar as well as to the California Bar demanding that I be disciplined. If they do that, it would serve my purpose of giving even greater publicity to the abuse of legal process in Singapore and will add one more proof of what most people believe to be the case, that Singapore abuses the law to silence dissent.

I have no doubt that the Singapore Legal profession which is in effect an accomplice of the Singapore government in this dirty business, will not dare to do it, simply because they know they are abusing the law in this case.

In no country in the world other than Singapore or perhaps North Korea or Burma, will I be disciplined for my actions under these circumstances. That much I am sure.

But I would certainly hope they do, and help me in my work in exposing this corrupt regime and their corrupt legal system.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Singapore's state controlled newspaper or propaganda sheet, the Straits Times online edition of Aug 18, 2010 has the story "2 more months for vandal". It is the story of Swiss man, Oliver Fricker, presently jailed in Singapore for painting graffiti on a Singapore train 2 months ago.

He was sentenced to a harsh 5 months in jail, in a city state despised and mocked internationally for it's over the top punishments of beatings (canings), long prison sentences and hangings for even seemingly minor offences.

While he was serving sentence, the Swiss President, Doris Leuthard, made an official visit to Singapore in July this year. Hitherto known for it's democracy and fair judicial system, most of us I think expected her to express her outrage at this totally disproportionate punishment of 5 months prison and caning, for an offense such as this, given a piece of her mind to her Singaporean counterpart and demand the immediate release of her citizen or else.

But you know what, she did no such thing. Instead of standing up for her citizen, she crawled and kowtowed before the Singapore President even claiming that the impending beating and the 5 month prison sentence was, believe it or not, "correct"! She was almost telling the Singapore government, please torture him and jail him as much as you want!

I guess, since this small tip pot city state called Singapore thinks it has got the green light from Switzerland to treat Fricker any way they want, todays same propaganda sheet, the Straits Times online edition has the story, "2 months more for vandal" telling us that the High Court there has increased the sentence to 7 months with the beatings. So Fricker is now going to be tortured with a cane 3 times on his buttocks until they bleed and jailed for 7 months in their notorious Changi jail.

Singapore's penchant for brutality and the sight of pain has been given a boost. Now they can say that Switzerland agrees with Singapore's blood curdling state sanctioned torture. Afterall their own president had called these punishments "correct"!

Shame on you Switzerland. You need not have stooped so low. Increased trade and business with Singapore surely is not worth that much.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Monday, August 16, 2010

The State controlled newspapers of Singapore, (all of them are) is not too dissimilar to a bulletin board or newsletter of a company, which publishes it's daily activities. They are not really newspapers in the strict sense where you can expect discussion, argument or investigative journalism. It would tell you what the government is doing on a daily basis, whether taxes have been raised, or lowered, where new roads are to be built, how many schools are to be built and how many demolished. As for you the citizen, there is nothing you need to worry about. Just be aware of what is happening and enjoy the ride. Lee Kuan Yew will take care of you. And he is not in the least interested in your opinion.

A Singaporean would consider himself lucky or terribly unhappy depending on whether he is capable of having any opinion. If he is the sort who does not have any, in which category the vast majority of Lee Kuan Yew's Singaporeans fall, life can be very pleasant. After all, except for the almost daily flooding throughout the island, there are no other major calamities, no earthquakes, no wars or pestilence. If you can manage to keep a job, you can do it, remain as inconspicuous as possible, don't complain about anything, don't be another troublemaker like Gopalan Nair; and if so, Lee Kuan Yew will not bother you and you can live out your life and die a peaceful death.

Then there are others, demonstrably only a few, who are not satisfied with this. They refuse to merely sit back and take the humbug thrown at them. If the government has plans to extend the GST or taxes, they want to know why. And what is worse, they have contrary opinions. They want to know why Lee Kuan Yew is so corrupted to the extent of $3.7 million per year which is his "salary". In other words they demand a voice. Such a man, which is a rarity in Singapore is Dr. Chee Soon Juan. For him and a few others like him, life becomes difficult in Singapore, very difficult.

Even though Singapore is just plain and simple dictatorship, and even though I know it and you know it, it won't do for international consumption. A visage, a veneer, a facade of democracy has to be shown. And here is where come the actors in Singapore Parliament House, who double as politicians. PAP Indarenee Rajah will argue against the introduction of foreign workers while PAP Wong Kan Seng will argue passionately for it. Low Thia Khiang of the Workers Party with unbounded enthusiasm and fervour will argue in the floor as to why the Workers should have more pay and Lim of the PAP will argue against it with even greater fire. All this would go on for a couple of days, the Parliamentary theatricals, and will eventually conclude with the government doing exactly what they wanted to do right from the beginning. And I don't think you would get an answer from Lee Kuan Yew or his friends why they waste their time and yours in this stupidity, since they always get to do what they want anyway.

The lesson we learn from this unique Singapore is this. If you want to live in Singapore, don't worry too much about anything. And even more importantly, don't have too many ideas about anything. It will only cause you trouble.

Best way to live in Singapore? Don't worry your head about Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew will take care of you. Just read the state controlled newspapers to know what is happening, if you want to. Even that is not necessary.

Just do your jobs, go to work, live a quiet life, Lee Kuan Yew will take care of you, as he has always done. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. And leave running the island to Lee Kuan Yew and his friends. Your opinions are not important. After all they know everything and you know nothing. Try to be a good Confucian boy like your mother said and keep your mouth shut, if you know what is good for you.

Remember, as Lee Kuan Yew called you, you are a "digit". Try to behave like one.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Singapore state controlled newspaper or propaganda sheet, whichever name you want to call it, the Straits Times online edition of August 11, 2010 has the story "SDN gives singles a push". It is another hopeless effort on the part of a government to urge Singapore young men and women to get married, which they hitherto are stubbornly refusing to do in any meaningful numbers. The birth rate in the island continues to decline, it's population rapidly shrinking, which would mean sooner than later, there are no Singaporeans left.

The million dollar ministers there whose job is to be on the good side of Lee Kuan Yew, rather than using their heads which they should be doing, simply do not get it.

They simply don't understand that the declining birth rate, the massive emigration rate and the universal political apathy and indifference of Singaporeans is because they are unhappy.

They don't appear to understand that an unhappy people would refuse to marry, not have children, leave the country, and completely decouple from their government. And they don't appear to understand that to reverse these unfavorable trends, you have to make them happy. Any ten year old would have told you that. A happy people would marry, have children and make Singapore their home instead of trying to run away from Singapore as fast as they can.

This newspaper story refers once again to "marriage rates dipping over the last decade" and "singles will be urged once again not to leave it to fate to find that special partner". Really I find these efforts hard to believe. Do they really think that anyone, including the super obedient compliant Singaporeans, would marry simply because the government wants them to!

And then there is even more astonishing stuff. It says "a new campaign will encourage people to be proactive about expanding their social circle- it's OK to do it though an agency- as well as moderate their expectations of Mr. or Miss Right". Believe it or not, the Singapore government is asking people to get married regardless of whether you fancy the woman or man! What will they say next, go marry a one-eyed woman because Lee Kuan Yew wants you to do it!

There is even more rubbish in it. There is even going to be a televised dating program. I don't know what surprises they have in mind this time; perhaps you chose a woman on the screen, and meet her the next day at MacRitchie Park.

I remember last time, they had another similarly idiotic matrimonial exercise. This was about a year ago, when men and women were lined up at Singapore subway rail station platforms who would spend a few minutes with the opposite sex inside the arriving trains with the Minister Iswaran standing on the platform to persuade them to propose and fall in love instantly. What was more shocking was that each man or woman was given only about 5 minutes to decide on his life partner! You could call it "Love at first sight on Singapore Rail", with the minster officiating as some sort of an instant matchmaker!

Obviously, it simply didn't work and like every other of these dictatorships harebrained ideas, was never heard of again.

And now this new nonsense.

The Singapore government has to understand, which I don't think they will, is this. Unless you permit citizen participation and dissenting voices in the island, Singaporeans are simply going to withdraw into their cocoons, where thy now are. They are not going to listen to you, not cooperate with you, not have babies, not marry and they will leave your island, and ultimately you will simply fail.

As long as you think you can talk down to your people and order them to do this and that and bully them into submission, you simply cannot earn their respect. And not earning their respect, you will have a disengaged population. And a disengaged population means that none of your policies would ever be successful. It is as simple as that.

And each time you write this nonsense in the Singapore press, Gopalan Nair and numerous other like minded Gopalan Nairs will criticize you, and Singaporeans will read it, and even more Singaporeans would decouple and completely refuse to have anything to do with you or your policies.

In the end, you will be left talking to yourself. And no one will hear.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times Online edition of Aug 9, 2010 has the story "Critical to have foreigners". In it, Lee Kuan Yew's son whom he anointed Prime Minister tells us through his state controlled newspaper that his plan is to bring in as many as 100,000 foreigners to settle in Singapore, which he claims is necessary to boost the economy.

With the huge numbers of skilled and educated Singaporeans leaving Singapore for good with their families to settle abroad, coupled with the double whammy of almost zero reproduction rate, with almost no babies being born at all, it should be quite obvious to anyone that he has simply no choice.

The Singaporean species is simply draining away through non stop massive emigration and insufficient child birth and if nothing is done, there wont be any left in the island.

The reason for this, by now intractable problem which is leading the father and son team (Lee Kuan Yew and son)to doom is obvious. The human being, unlike dogs and cats, simply dislikes living under a bully. Given a choice they will pack up and go elsewhere. And it is the repressive policies of the father and son team that has created this problem, and no amount of hoodwinking balderdash double talk from them is going to make any difference.

The horse has bolted from the barnyard. It is too late now.

For decades now, Lee Kuan Yew, the indisputable ruler of the island has treated his subjects as nothing but dust. And many simply refuse to accept it. He has over the decades deliberately shown that the Singapore courts are simply his tool to eliminate the opposition. To drive this point home, he repeatedly jails and sues the late JB Jeyaretnam into bankruptcy and finally death. He does the same to Dr. Chee Soon Juan who till now continues to suffer from this abuse of power. The same fate happens to Francis Seow, now living as an American in the USA. The same for Tang Liang Hong now in Australia. The same fate to me since I questioned the then Singapore Attorney General in 1989.

Today the average Singaporean, each and every one of them, has no respect whatsoever for the judiciary. Everyone knows that you don't get any justice in court. If you do, you are undoubtedly an accredited supporter of Lee Kuan Yew. The courts, simply put, are there to do what he wants to do with his detractors.

He has completely eliminated the free press with the entire media under his control. Which means that you do not have the means to know what the truth is, it is simply what he tells you it is.

Then he introduced state sanctioned racial discrimination. The Malays to whom Singapore actually belongs have been relegated almost to a forgotten class, the Chinese having all the good jobs and the Malays destined to menial jobs of drivers and coolies. The Malay language is totally destroyed, their culture is destroyed and the majority Chinese community of which Lee Kuan Yew is one has turned the place into one where it is almost derogatory to call someone a Malay. The Malay in Singapore has almost become ashamed of his identity. The Malays are not allowed to live anywhere in the island they want, and are required to live in certain designated areas of the island chosen by Lee Kuan Yew and his government, ironically in a country which once belonged to them.

The Malays are being subjected today to a system not too dissimilar from that of the late South African apartheid and forcibly spread out throughout the island and forced to live among the pork eating Chinese, under the government claim that they are integrating them into the Chinese population.

Many Malays now are in fact trying to erase their identity by learning Chinese in the hope that they will somehow be accepted by the majority race. As a result many are in fact refusing to speak Malay.

The minority race of Indians fare no better. They too like the Malays do the menial jobs for the Chinese and live their lives among the Chinese majority as best they can. While I was in Singapore in 2008, and arrested for criticizing Lee's Judge, throughout the island, the Indians, mostly Tamil were almost to the man, ashamed of his identity. If I spoke to any of them in Tamil, I found almost always the retort to be in English. In fact, I found this so troubling that I asked them why they spoke in English when I used Tamil? Did they not know Tamil, to which the disgraceful answer was that they hardly spoke Tamil, as if they were ashamed of it. Not only that in Singapore the Chinese hegemony prevails, but it is almost totally destroying the Indian race, with mounting interracial marriages especially with the Chinese. Today almost one in three Indian is in fact unrecognizable, leaving you to guess wither he was a Malay or a Filipino, the product of unions between Tamil men and Chinese women.

Vivian Balakrishnan, one of Lee Kuan Yew's minister minions, is one. I believe his father was a Tamil and his mother a Chinese. Looking at him it is any ones guess what he is. He is, I understand, totally ignorant in the Tamil language. I am not sure if he knows any Chinese, probably not. His main quality appears to be unconditional loyalty to the Singapore strongman and by extension to his son. He will do anything they want of him, a skill which ensures his bread and butter in that island, just as many others who live shameful lives like him.

Obviously despite their claimed high levels of eduction, the father and son team that run the country and their minions who do their dirty work for them to destroy political opposition, do not appear to understand that for many, living in such conditions is distasteful.

They appear not to understand that capable human being able to fend for themselves, would be unwilling to accept such a life and leave the island. With the repeated routine severe punishments of bankrupting citizens, taking the jobs away and even jailing them, Lee Kuan Yew has made it abundantly clear that unlike other open democracies, there is no room in Singapore for dissenting voices. Dissent is simply impossible unless you want to lose everything.

In such conditions, anyone would have seen that self respecting upstanding men an women had no other choice but to leave the island taking their families with them.

Father and son's modes operandi clearly shows that they in fact wanted the message to come across very clearly to the citizens, that is, if you oppose you would be destroyed. That is why JB Jeyaretnams politically motivated cases just as that of every other political opponent is splashed across the state controlled newspapers in screaming headlines, just as is the case with ever other hapless victim of Lee Kuan Yew.

Decades of this message repeated almost daily in the newspapers has managed very well to send the dire warning home.

And the result of this decades of misuse of power by father and son, has resulted in this intractable problem today of the mass drain of Singaporeans leaving the island.

Every former Singaporean parent who settles in the West with his children, cuts the cord of the child with Singapore forever within 5 years. After that he is completely lost to Singapore. And they in turn bring in even more Singaporeans across. And with the added problem of not having enough babies being born, Lee Kuan Yew and his son has managed finally to knock the last nail into the Singaporean coffin.

The best and most qualified Singaporeans are forever lost to the island. They will not return. Their children have become Canadians, not Singaporeans. The new immigrants whom Father and son bring in are coming merely for stint in the island. They have no intention of ever being part of Singapore. For the right price, they might even sing Singapore patriotic songs or even fly the flag. Once they have had enough they too will go home.

The only ones who may stay are the uneducated who have no idea of their rights and no understating of what they are letting themselves into. You would have uneducated Burmese and Communist Chinese human imports. Many of them have no knowledge of English and are truly of no benefit to the island. Singapore can bring in as many of them as they want but their use only extends to obeying anyone who throws some money at them. Such men and women are not much use for nation building.

If there are anyone benefiting from all this, it is the Father and son and their cronies who use government funds to do all sorts of trading both locally and internationally and thereby enrich noone one else, but themselves. The average person in Singapore is merely a commodity which they use to make their money.

My reckoning is that in a few years, Singapore as it is will collapse. Father and son have managed to so completely destroy the island's image abroad with these repressive laws that the few remaining native born Singaporeans in the island will finally disappear completely. Lee Kuan Yew and Son could probably manage to run the place a little longer but without commitment and dedication to the country, these foreign workers simply cannot accomplish much.

We should tell father and son that merely taking picture of paid men and women and schoolchildren orchestrated to stand in line and fly the Singapore flag and then splashing it across the state controlled newspapers will not accomplish much in Singapore. It did not accomplish much in North Korea, the Soviet Union and Burma either.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times Online edition of Aug 5, 2010has the story "both sides appealing" about Oliver Fricker the Swiss computer consultant jailed and caned for graffiti. As the title states, both the prosecution and Fricker are appealing the sentence, the prosecution because it is too short and Fricker because it is too long.

But what I want to say is this. Fricker had a marvellous opportunity to turn his misfortune of being arrested into a worldwide cry against the inhumanity cruelty and brutality of the Singapore legal regime.

Instead of pleading guilty at the first opportunity which he did, he could have gone to trial, dragged his case as long as he could and told the world how inhumane and barbaric this puny tin pot dictatorship is, with it's beatings and torture.

Of course, had he fought the case, there is a possibility of his sentence being increased. But really they cannot hurt him too much. The heightened adverse publicity generated by a prolonged trial for this totally inappropriate punishment of caning for a minor offense, would in all likelihood have offended the feelings of the entire civilized world. Singapore would have even rescinded it's caning order in the face of worldwide recrimination against the brutality. In that process, Fricker would have been serving the cause of freedom and justice by placing Singapore on the spotlight once again; the spotlight of state sanctioned brutality.

Well the opportunity was lost but we still must thank Fricker for helping to publicize to the world that Singapore is truly not a first world country, but rather an arbitrary island run by a bloodcurdling monster.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Alan Shadrake, the renowned British author, was arrested some weeks ago in Singapore for writing a book Singapore did not like. That itself was a big mistake. The world over has come to hear of it by now and has condemned it. Singapore's reputation as a police state intolerant of dissent has gone down ever further by 2 notches.

I would have thought Singapore would have realised they are hurting themselves, quickly dealt with him, and shipped him out, to save even further embarrassment.

But no, that is not what Singapore wants. It seems adamant to want to hurt itself even more. Instead of a quick trial, and deportation, they have postponed the case for 3 weeks, with a yet to be determined court date, while Shadrake remains in Singapore attracting even more publicity not only locally but also in the remotest parts of the world to which the shameful news may not have yet spread, perhaps to Azerbaijan or Siberia! Why, I really cannot understand.

Anyone with any sense of decency and common sense in this day and age will see Singapore has no leg to stand on in this. You simply don't go around arresting an author of a book merely for what he wrote. Civilized countries today have what is known as freedom of expression. You may be arrested in countries like Iran, North Korea, China or Burma, but they are countries which have never claimed to be democracies.

But for Singapore which claims to be a first world democracy (according to Lee Kuan Yew), which by the way we know it is not; to be deliberately behaving in this rather inexplicable manner by arresting an author for what he said in a book and then keeping him there for weeks and months, as if to make sure that the entire world knows about it, does not make sense at all.

Singapore in it's determination to have the entire world know about the arrest is in fact doing it's minuscule political opposition a great deal of good. The opposition, including myself, have been trying hard to expose Singapore for what it is, a one party state dictatorship under the grip of the aging Lee Kuan Yew and his son, through the government's smoke screen of outright lies and half truths put out by the state controlled media.

Singapore, by holding Alan Shadrake in Singapore with his passport confiscated, for a long time thereby allowing the world to know the complete details of his totally unjustifiable arrest, has been an unexpected blessing once again for all those who love freedom for Singapore.

Thank you, you bunch of Singaporean bullies for telling our side of the story. The longer you keep him detained in Singapore the better the story.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Followers

About Me

Determined to find the Truth.
Born Singapore, educated Winstedt School 2 (next to Monks Hill in Newton, Singapore) Raffles Institution, National Service, some travel in Europe, then law studies England, return to Singapore, practiced for 10 years, active Workers Party member, stood elections 1988 and 1991 in Singapore, was harassed and persecuted by Lee Kuan Yew for my political beliefs, left for USA, obtained asylum and admitted California State Bar, practice law ever since in Fremont California near San Francisco. Relinquished Singapore citizenship 2005 because I was not prepared to permit Lee Kuan Yew to unjustly retain my CPF funds if I remained Singapore Citizen. On principle, the only correct thing for me to do was to give it up, for my CPF funds. I am an American Citizen as of 2004.